Criminal charges against former MPP Randy Hillier related to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa have been stayed after a judge determined the case had gone on too long.
Hiller was charged with a total of nine offences, including assaulting a peace officer, mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, and resisting or obstructing a peace offer in connection to the truckers’ convoy protests against COVID-19 lockdowns.
He was charged with assault in an incident on Parliament Hill where Hillier allegedly pushed a metal gate onto an officer.
Justice Kerry McVey decided the case had exceeded the time limit cap of 30 months. The Supreme Court of Canada set mandatory time limits for court cases.
Hillier said the 28-page decision had been emailed to him.
He told The Epoch Times in a phone interview that it was welcome news.
“I think it’s a great day,” he said. “It removes a significant burden.”
He said he felt that the arguments put forward for his side were “solid and very sound.”
“I think the Crown’s assertions of trying to cast all the blame on me when they were in the driver’s seat was weak, and I suspect that Justice McVey saw the arguments in a very similar light that I did,” Hillier said.
“I know my actions were consistent with and upheld my obligations as an elected representative to give voice to my constituents and those who were not being heard during COVID.”
Hillier said the Crown had been looking for a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for him.
“Once again, we have stood our ground and fought back, and Justice Kerry McVey has ruled that, yes, this outrageous length of time that the crown took to prosecute me was unconstitutional, and she has stayed the charges,” he said in the video. “All criminal charges against me in Ottawa from the Freedom Convoy have been stayed.”
Hillier served as MPP for the riding of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston from 2007–2022.
